The Maharashtra Police has informed the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) that Hindutva activist Sambhaji Bhide, the founder of Shiv Pratishthan Hindustan, has been discharged from the Bhima Koregaon case stating that there is no evidence against him.
According to reports, the Pune police, which is investigating the Bhima Koregaon case, has filed a report before the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) stating Sambhaji Bhide has been dropped from the 2018 Koregaon-Bhima violence case as he was not found to have played any role in the violence.
The police submitted the report to MHRC on Wednesday. The one-page report said that as Bhide’s role was not found in the case, hence his name was dropped.
“We have submitted this information to the commission… The name of Bhide has not been included in the charge sheet since there is no evidence against him so far,” Pune Superintendent of Police Abhinav Deshmukh said.
The Pune police had filed a case against Bhide and others under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and various sections of the IPC for their alleged role in the Bhima Koregaon violence perpetrated on January 1. Besides Bhide, another Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote was also booked in the case based on the complaint by Dalit activist Anita Sawale.
The violence chiefly broke out in the Pune district prior to the 200th celebration of a British victory over the Peshwas. This ‘victory’ has been spun by leftist historians as a ‘victory of Dalits’, owing to the British army supposedly comprising Dalits and other lower castes while the ruling Peshwas were Brahmins.
In 2021, advocate Aditya Mishra approached the MSHRC, saying that former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had stated in the Assembly that the case against Mr Bhide would be withdrawn, but that did not happen.
In his complaint, Mishra had stated, “Can anyone frame any XYZ as an accused casually without any evidence on the basis of hearsay?” He further pleaded that a status report be sought from the police in the case against Bhide. Mishra had also asked from the commission “necessary directions as per law in the interest of justice,” saying, “how long will a sword of FIR hang over the head of Bhide guruji”.
In response, the MSHRC had then summoned Pune Rural Police officials and sought a status report in the case against Bhide.
Earlier, in 2018, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had made a statement in the state assembly, saying that there was no proof of Bhide being involved in said Bhima Koregaon violence perpetrated on January 1, 2018.
